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Rainforest District - Tinderspire Apartments - Fourth Tier Canopy, Forest Block 2A Wednesday - 5:47 PM - Scattered Clouds Outside - Rainforest: Wet/Humid

Ralph was miserable. He learned very quickly that he should have done his research while still in the open breeze of The Docks. Instead, he had hightailed it back into the Rainforest District before sitting down at a bench to do some browsing for the three names on the ledger: Alverin, Nates and Stinkman. It was at a special time of day in the district where they unleashed the overhead sprinklers to simulate the rain across the entire area and he was soaked.

Completely unprepared, he dashed underneath a nearby awning. Shaking his entire body of every droplet he could fling off, he slouched up against the front façade. It appeared to be a restaurant with a few patrons waiting outside as the diners inside were slowly filtering out after finishing their meals. Everyone seemed to have the same idea and was huddled underneath the overhang, watching the evening 'storm' pass over.

Shaking the phone out of his pocket, he used his inner shirt to wipe off the screen. Tapping in the names one after another into the yellow pages, he discovered that only two lived within the city limits of Zootopia. According to the police database, Alverin had moved to a neighboring province nearly a decade ago, shortly after that musk mill incident occurred. Nates was on the far side in Sahara Square. That just left Steven Stinkman to visit first, who was in an apartment complex here in the Rainforest District.

The multitude of walkways, roads and pathways leading up and down the canopy tiers was confusing. Even Haze had a rough time navigating Ralph to the necessary waypoints to find the Tinderspire apartment building. He actually had to double back at one point, go down one tier before coming up another before he was able to access a specific section of the fourth tier of walkways where his destination lay. He was dumbstruck at the sheer lunacy of this district's planning.

It seemed one of the tram rails went directly past the backside of the Tinderspire, which was built into the trunk of a huge Kapok tree. Various windows illuminated the darkness within the foliage covering the upper portions of the trunk. The tram must provide quick public transportation to other parts of the district to the residents here.

The embedded wooden door swung inward with a rattle as Ralph entered a very cramped, yet cozy foyer. It was obviously circular in nature, centered around a faux fire pit with beige, fluffy-cushioned couches. The front desk was carved into a rather gnarled knot that extended out towards the pit. The place was beautifully lit by strung-up lanterns with electrical bulbs in place of candle wicks, the cords wrapping around the room like a holiday display.

A spotted, brown paca suddenly leaped onto the receptionist desk, jingling the small bell that was there. Its square head ending in a rather flat nose, wiggled as it caught scent of Ralph. It was wearing a dapper looking suit and bowtie around its rotund form, a nametag pinned at an impeccably pristine location above his chest pocket with the label, 'Hernandez.'

"I hate to be rude, good sir." Hernandez began, adjusting himself and brushing down any lint from his pressed outfit. "The Tinderspire is primarily meant for smaller tenants who would do well in such confined apartments. One of your...stature would find themselves most uncomfortable here in this establishment."

Realizing that the attendant was just making note of his overall size, Ralph waved a hoof at him casually, "Oh, no. I'm not here to secure a place to stay. I'm actually here on official police business." He flashed his badge and genially leaned on the counter, nearly face to face with the paca. "Would a Steven Stinkman still be making residence here?"

"Ah-ha! I knew it!" Hernandez said with surprising gusto. "What did he do? Did he flash bomb an entire department store with his stench? Did he sneak into some private property for a juicy story scoop? I know how those shifty reporter types are. I swear he sneaks into other tenants rooms and lays down his putrid odor. Can't you smell it now? Please tell me you got some dirt on him! He seems too squeaky clean to me!"

"Um...no, I'm not here to arrest him. I'm just here to question him on a case I've been working on." Ralph sputtered, genuinely shocked at the vitriol this employee had for Steven.

The paca's expression drooped. "Oh...well then, you can find him on the second floor, block 2A. He's the room at the end of the hall on the left." He hopped down off the desk and slouched into a reclining roller chair. Looking up at Ralph wistfully, he asked, "If you do find anything on Stinkman, will you be sure to let me know?"

"I'll be sure not to do that." Ralph grumped.

He didn't really like the attitude of this critter. It was very unprofessional and rude. He made a mental note to see who the general manager was of this apartment complex and report Hernandez. Shaking his head, he took his leave of the paca and headed towards the back of the main room where the spiral staircase led up and down the trunk of the tree.

Hernandez was not kidding. The staircase was just wide enough for Ralph to fit through. It was probably perfect for two smaller mammals to stand abreast on a single step, but a wildebeest his size took up the entire width of the staircase. Ducking low, he climbed up the rooted steps and thankfully came out one floor above.

Despite it being inside the trunk of a tree, the kopak variety was very round and had a lot more space than one would expect looking at it from the outside. After exiting the stairs, he came across a singular long hallway stretching out to the other side of the tree, multiple doorways branching off from the lone corridor. Taking the receptionist's instruction, he ambled down the tight hall and turned towards the last room on the left, rapping on it gently.

While he waited for a response, Ralph scoped out the environs and noted that it was much more dimly lit than the entryway. In fact, it didn't have any artificial lighting, instead relying on bioluminescent moss that bathed the corridor in a pale, green glow. The framed window at the end, adjacent to Stinkman's apartment, also provided some exterior light. A faint rumble rattled the entire structure with the passing of a tram car, just yards outside the window. It was close enough to see detail on the passengers inside the cabin.

After a few minutes, he knocked on the door again. This produced a response. He could hear a loud clang, followed by some choice words before several thumps of unknown origin. Flicking his ears this way and that, he could discern the occupant within slowly making his way towards the door. It swung open wide, revealing a very disheveled and tired looking skunk. He had on a pair of khaki pants and a wife beater top of a garish baby blue.

"Good...afternoon, Mr. Steven Stinkman, I presume?" Ralph had to catch himself lest he swoon right at the doorway as it opened. The smell was intense, yet familiar. He knew he shouldn't generalize all skunk musk, but this brought back some bad memories.

"Yeah?" Steven said groggily, rubbing his eyes from sleep. It seemed clear he had holed himself away most of the day. He looked unkept and in desperate need of a shower.

Flashing his badge, "I am Officer Grayz. I'm here to discuss with you an incident that happened to you about ten years ago. Do you have time for me to come in and answer a few questions?"

Mind still foggy from waking up so suddenly to Ralph, Steven just bobbed his head and shuffled out of the way, opening the door wider as he did so. "Sure..."

"Thank you." Ralph nodded before ducking his head down to enter the small doorway.

He surveyed the room and found it very quaint. The outer wall curved around, visibly showing this apartment as being on the edge of the tree trunk. There was a small living area immediately inside with a small stump table with a few chairs surrounding it, all facing a small tube television complete with bunny ear antennas. A few steps up on one side lead to a higher deck in the main room where a lounging nook looked out through a sash window onto the Rainforest District below.

Across from the nook was a small kitchenette that barely had room for even a microwave. The entire place looked like mess as if Steven had barely cleaned the place up after several dozen meals. Beyond that lay a small hallway that supposedly led to perhaps the bedroom or bathroom, maybe both. Of interesting note were a part of open-pawed boots next to a couch by the steps, clearly meant for a much larger mammal than the skunk before him.

"You got a roommate?" Ralph asked curiously. This definitely looked like a one tenant apartment suite. It would be a hard sell to fit two in here.

After flopping down on the couch facing the doorway, arms listlessly falling to the cushions beside him, he gazed up at the large wildebeest. "Huh?" He noticed the gnu's attention to the boots. "Oh, no...those were my mother's. I keep them for scent-imental value." He brought one up to his nose and gave a big whiff, faintly smiling at the memory before setting it back down.

Ralph's brow rose with surprise at the curious sniffing. His mom must have been...rather big. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I'm sorry for your loss..."

Steven looked at him curiously, "No, she's not dead. She's just not responding to me." He sniffled. "It's all my fault too. If I hadn't threatened her with leaving, maybe she'd be returning my phone calls and we could be having coffee again like we used to. I miss it already."

Ralph did his best to situate himself on one of the small chairs, awkwardly splaying his legs this way and that to avoid knocking over the stump table. "I'm sorry to hear that. Now, about this event ten years ago. Would you please tell me about the time you were in the musk mill? I will understand if it is too painful for you to recollect, but anything you can tell me would be of great help."

Steven continued on, as if he hadn't heard him all too well. "She's been with me these past ten years and it's been great! Then he came along and ruined everything, trying to woo mom off her paws and into his bed, kicking me out and leaving me to live here alone. It was all because he couldn't handle a little skunk being around him." He wiped his nose with the fur on his arm, not really caring what came off.

"Alright..." Ralph hesitated. He wasn't really sure where to go from here to get the conversation back on track. "So this mother of yours, when did you first meet her?" Since she had been with him just as long as the duration of his release from the musk mill, maybe he could find out more from this angle.

"Meet her?" He paused, making sure he heard Ralph correctly. "She met me. She took me in and raised me as her own. She's been my Mom ever since."

That would explain the boots. Ralph pressed, "So your Mom is not a skunk then?"

"No. Why?" Steven asked, getting suddenly wary. "Does my having a wolf mom upset you? I know how weird it is to have multi-species households in Zootopia. Some people really frown on that sort of thing. Are you one of those types?"

"What? No!" Ralph defended. "I'm just surprised."

"Good." Steven sighed, leaning back into the couch relieved.

He was surprised in more than one way. Skunks had a reputation for being rather unwanted by many in Zootopia just due to the natural musk odor they give off, even when not actively spraying. To have a wolf, with a highly sensitive nose, taking in an orphaned skunk and raising him as her own was highly unusual. What made it more interesting for Ralph was that this adoptive mother was a wolf. Just the sort of mammal he was tracking.

Now noticing the faded pine tree air freshener tied to the skunk's neck, he pointed at it. "That is a very unique necklace you have there. Where did you get it?" There was something oddly familiar about it, but Ralph couldn't exactly place it.

Steven clutched the tree, giving it a sniff despite it having lost its scent long ago. "My mother gave it to me as an anniversary gift."

"You two seem very close by the way you talk about her." Grayz gave a genuine smile to ease the skunk's inhibitions.

Steven seemed to relax at the thought of her, "Yeah, she is pretty great. I loved this gift so much that I had some molded earrings made for her that look just like it."

That was interesting. "So Steven, do you remember a lot about this musk mill you were placed in?" Ralph had a potential line of questioning that might answer a few things.

"What is there to know? It was cold, dark, cramped and wet. They pulled me out once a week to string me up to some extraction machine, plugged up my butt and drained me. It was a truly awful experience. I'm glad those punks got what was coming to them!" He huffed, crossing his arms.

"You saw what happened to those who imprisoned you and the others?" Ralph leaned forward.

"Of course we did. The whole place went up in a huge blaze. It was hard to miss the massive explosion and the burned bodies." Steven idly scratched an itch on his ear.

"Who rescued you? Was it the ZPD?" Ralph knew the answer, but he wanted to see what Steven would say.

The skunk scoffed, having some contempt apparently for the ZPD. "Hardly. It was a wolf in red clothing that let us all out of our cages and burned the place to the ground."

That correlated with the orca's story perfectly. Eager now, Ralph grilled, "So this wolf that helped you escape, this is the same one as your mother, correct?"

This caused Steven's eyes to bulge, his body shifting uncomfortably. "N-no...two different wolves."

"That's amazingly convenient." Ralph mused aloud.

"Amazing...yeah." The skunk seemed far more attentive now. "Where did you say you were from again?"

"I'm Officer Grayz. I'm with the ZPD." He responded promptly.

Steven visibly winced at the answer. "Look, I don't know what you are gunning for with these questions, but it was an incident in the past I'd rather not drudge up again."

Disappointed, Ralph conceded defeat. "Fair enough. Would you mind giving me the phone number or address of your mother so I can follow up with her later?"

It appeared that the skunk was about to deny this request when a knock on the door alerted them both. Steven excused himself to get up and answer the door. The moment he opened it, a blur of black and white surged through the doorway, nearly knocking him off his feet. Ralph's hoof unconsciously went to the gun that wasn't there by his belt strap. He only relaxed and sat back down when he deduced it was just another skunk, wrapping herself around Steven, peppering him with kisses.

"I'm so glad I finally found you!" The female gasped in-between pecks. "I figured you had just miswrote your address and phone number after our date yesterday! Good thing for the internet! Did you know you are quite easy to find, Steven?"

"Courtney?!" He stammered, taken aback by the sudden appearance of her. "What are you doing here?" He struggled to disentangle himself from her clutches.

Wrapping arms around his neck, bringing him in for another kiss. "Why wouldn't I be here?" She giggled. "You were quite the charmer and seemed so into me yesterday. Mind if I let you in on a secret too?" She looked around, clearly not noticing the large wildebeest sitting right there before whispering in his ear, "I was very much into you as well."

"Ahem, am I disturbing something?" Ralph grunted. This was going seriously off the rails.

This sudden disturbance garnered a shriek out of Courtney as she skipped back, huddling herself embarrassed in the corner by the entrance, giving Steven a chance to gasp some air. "Eeek! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there, sir! That was very rude of me!" She apologized, hiding her face in her luxurious tail.

Ralph was not entirely impressed with either skunk before him and it did little to improve his outlook on them as a species either. She sported a black lace stocking shorts that seemed way too small and revealing. Her upper half was a jaggedly cut pink tank-top that was way too far up past the navel. It was obvious what her intent was for coming here just by a single glance.

"It's quite alright." Ralph raised a hoof to calm the frightened skunk. "I'm just here on official ZPD business. I was just talking to Mr. Stinkman here about his mother."

"Yeah," Steven began to agree, his breathing starting to calm down, "but we're done now and Officer Grayz will now be going." He finished with an air of finality.

"His mom?" Courtney perked up, a beaming smile blossoming on her face. "Oh, I love her! She is such a sweet wolf!"

"Courtney!" Steven hissed, trying to give her a look to shut her up.

"A wolf, you say?" Ralph grinned, looking from Steven to Courtney. "Seems like an odd thing here in Zootopia. A wolf adopting a skunk for a son."

Without even thinking, Courtney rambled on, "Absolutely! That's what I thought too!" She bounced, causing her breasts to jiggle, forcing a blush on Steven. "She's the nicest wolfess I've ever met though! She's the one who hooked us up together!" She made a gesture to indicate her and Steven. "She completely supports us 100%! She clearly has refined taste."

Quickly flipping out his phone to write a note, he probed, "Steven here didn't exactly mention her name. Would you?"

Steven glared at Ralph, clearly recognizing what he was doing. "Her name? It's Mrs. Wolford, she works at the bank...mmmph!"

Steven moved in to fold himself around Courtney, pressing into a deep, tongued kiss. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough to silence her before she blurted out his Mom's name. She practically melted into the kiss, nearly threatening to bring them both to the ground as she went limp, forcing Steven to flex hard to keep them both upright.

"Wolford..." Ralph repeated slowly, typing in the name. "Thank you, Courtney." He smiled, standing up and preparing to leave. "You both have been most helpful. Thank you for your time."

Unlocking his lips from Courtney's, Steven spat, "You're welcome. Please go, I'm busy with my girlfriend." He didn't know why he said it, but it was the first thing that came to his mind to further speed along Grayz's departure.

"Your girlfriend?!" Courtney practically squealed, giddy at the notion. She basically tackled him to the floor in a barrage of tongue lashings, smothering him as he squirmed and writhed on the floor. "I didn't know you felt that way about us so soon, but I can get behind this!"

Realizing the error of his judgment, he whispered hoarsely between kisses, "Help!"

"You know what? I'm just...going to leave you two alone." Ralph bowed his head, hiding his grin. He slowly shut the door, secretly relishing the doomed wide-eyed look on Steven's face as he reached out to the wildebeest before the click of the door as it closed on him.

With renewed determination, Ralph was more certain than ever he was on the right trail now. It seemed no coincidence that the mother of this skunk was a wolf just like the one who helped free the victims from that musk mill on The Docks. What was more peculiar was the name drop Courtney revealed.

Wolford was not an unknown name to Ralph. In fact, it was the name of the very work colleague he had taken a shift for that fateful Monday night. However, there were simply too many Wolfords in Zootopia to just make a snap conclusion like that. Still, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had actually met this wolf before. He couldn't quite place it, but that pine tree necklace of Steven's was so familiar and the fact he had a wolf mom was setting off alarm bells in Ralph's head.

Ralph was so lost in thought that he was startled coming down the stairs when Hernandez ambushed him from the desk. "So did you find any dirt on the little stinker? Is he peddling prostitutes in his room like that skunk that just went up to see him?"

The wildebeest's mane bristled at the paca's attitude. "No. He was the very definition of a model, upright citizen." He lied, just to not have to handle this conversation right now.

"That's a shame." Hernandez said dejectedly. With a thought, he zipped out a business card and had perched it between two claws, outstretched for Ralph to grab it. "Well, if you do find anything, here's my contact information. Don't hesitate to let me know!"

"I won't." Ralph stomped out the door, leaving the Tinderspire with a bewildered receptionist looking out after him.

Gratefully getting into an open tram car, he willed himself to relax as he leaned against the siding. Enjoying the aerial view, he opened up his internet app phone and began looking up the name, Wolford. Knowing that the suspect in question was female, he could rule out his co-worker and over a few dozen more Wolfords within the city. Who was left didn't leave him with any good feelings. There were half a dozen female Wolfords in the city, but one stood out to him for reasons he wished weren't true.

---

Savannah Central - The Shoppes - Section D, Sandwich Shop 'Nocturnal Bites' Wednesday - 8:59 PM - Dark Overcast Skies / Constant Rain with Electrical Currents

"That's quite a serious accusation." Judy commented, leaning forward onto her paws, elbows on the table.

"I know! That's why I am so uneasy about this case now." Ralph exhaled, slouching into his chair, looking down at the bunny from across the table. His sandwich was half-eaten, yet he didn't feel hungry anymore.

After his visit to the Lemming Bros. Bank earlier that evening, he was more certain than ever who the Dark Flame Wolf was. However, there were a few pieces missing that was preventing the entire picture from being whole.

He didn't really have many colleagues to turn to regarding this particular case. Remembering what Chief Bogo said about Officer Hopps and how they seemed to have made some sort of connection earlier that morning, she was as good a choice as any to hear his crazy theory out. Ralph had called her up around 2000 sharp just after he had been summarily kicked out of the bank by a very irritable otter.

Earlier that evening, he had looked up the remaining Wolfords in Zootopia that were female and one resided as the CEO of Lemming Brothers Bank. Again, being closer than any of the other Wolfords to his present location and also being the one Courtney singled out, he went there first.

It was already on the verge of closing, but he insisted to speak with Mrs. Wolford. The secretary, which was strangely enough an otter, was very irate. It wasn't that he was particularly rude, especially not to a police officer or even a potential customer of the bank, it was more of the fact that something else seemed to be occupying his attention and focus. Having a cop come in and investigate his boss was probably not high on the otter's list of things to be dealing with that day.

"As you can see, she is not in. She hasn't been in this entire day." The otter fussed, whose name turned out to be Ronald. He was busy filing last minute papers on her desk before locking the place up for the night.

"Can you leave a message for me or at least tell me when she usually gets in during the mornings?" Ralph pressured gently.

"Who knows?" Ron threw his hands up, accidently knocking his big spectacles off kilter from his small snout. Adjusting them quickly, he twitched his nose. "I've only been working here for not even three days. She has a very erratic schedule and I couldn't possibly tell you when she'll show up to work next. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to close this place up and all customers and visitors must leave now. You have a good evening, officer."

The otter did his best to use polite words and phrases, but it was clear the wildebeest was no longer welcome in the upper offices of Mrs. Wolford. Backing up as the diminutive otter closed and locked the doors and shut off the lights, Ralph rode down the elevator with Ron. Each standing next to each other in silence, they waited for the cabin to hit ground floor.

As it opened, the otter's pocket rang as he whipped out a phone and began talking into it, waving off Ralph as he walked away, absorbed in his conversation. "No, I have no idea where she is! She didn't show up at all today..."

As the tiny voice trailed off down the street, Ralph plucked out his own phone and called Judy. They chose to meet at Nocturnal Bites, an evening diner that served fungi-based sandwiches with mushrooms grown fresh from the Nocturnal District, or so it claimed. It was a very unassuming joint, part of a bigger, outlet shopping center outside the main Preyda corporate building. It wasn't long before Hopps showed up and they went in to discuss what Ralph had been doing the entire day.

Clasping her paws together, Judy hovered over the table. "So let's go over what you do know." She opened up the ledger and flipped to the pages with the names of the skunks. "There was a musk mill incident which the Dark Flame Wolf was involved in. All perpetrators were killed in the fire and the children and innocents set free by this wolf. A story confirmed by an eye witness of one orca, Sebastian, whom you met at the scene of the crime."

"That's correct." Ralph confirmed, happy that someone was taking the time to hear him out.

"Through further investigation," She continued, "You are claiming that this Steven Stinkman was one of the skunks released from the mill, as evidenced by this ledger. You are now also claiming that this same skunk was adopted by and has been in the care of the Dark Flame Wolf."

"Also correct." Ralph affirmed.

"Finally, you are stating that this same wolf is Mrs. Murana Wolford who is CEO at Lemming Bros. Bank and the wife to fellow police officer, Anthony Wolford." She finished.

"I know it sounds crazy." He hunched over, head in his hooves. "But I now strictly recall seeing her at an orphanage on Monday and she was wearing these pine tree earrings. The same ones described by Steven as having given her as a gift based on his necklace. It's just too convenient!"

Judy whistled, "Yeah, that is a bit of a stretch. There are several key pieces of evidence missing though. We still don't have any paw prints or anything to directly link Mrs. Wolford to any of these crimes."

Ralph dropped a hoof to look at Hopps, "I know, which is why I had put in a request for evidence collection this morning. I was hoping to see if I could find something that could tie this all together, but the Chief put a nix on that!"

Judy tapped a finger to her chin, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Knowing Raina, she usually finishes jobs in the order she receives them. If anything, she may still be processing your request and has yet to get to Bogo's."

"Still, at the end of the day, I ultimately have nothing and I don't want to just go ahead and accuse someone's wife of being a mass murderer, especially if that person happens to be a fellow cop." He pushed away his plate, no longer feeling hungry now that the pit in the bottom of his stomach had grown.

Ears drooping, she had to agree. "I know what you mean. My first case was a tough one too. I didn't have all the pieces myself to solve it. It wasn't until some outside the box thinking with a dash of luck helped me crack it."

Ralph chuckled, "I've heard all about it. The Night Howler case. Pretty legendary, if you ask me."

Judy blushed, "Well, I'm sure it didn't help that I had to break some rules to get the job done, but Bogo does respect the talent I have in serving justice and making this city a better place."

"He does have some reservations about you." He warned, both laughing at this. "Still though," Ralph turned serious again, "I'm unclear as to the connections between the various victims of the Dark Flame Wolf. Their bios and backgrounds do not coincide and there seems to be nothing really in common with most of them. Some are simple family mammals while others are hardened criminals. Some are male while others female. Some are poor, some are rich. There is no rhyme or reason to it."

"And then she releases a bunch of kids from a musk mill and adopts one." Judy said, trying to complete his thought, her cheek resting on her fist.

"Exactly! What is up with that?" He threw his hooves up in defeat.

Judy smirked this time, finally being able to reveal something most people didn't know. "I have a theory myself about that." Ralph looked like he was all ears. "I can't prove it for all the burned victims, but I can figure out a common link between a majority of them. Some had a history of wife battering or child abuse. Some were implicated in rape or molestation cases. All were involved in some way with the abuse or death of females and children."

"All of them?" Ralph queried incredulously.

"Most, but I'd wager that it extends to all of them." She clicked her tongue. "You see, when I did my own investigation on the Dark Flame Wolf, I was always confused why she went after some, but completely ignored others to include serial killers and horrendous sadists. It's like she arbitrarily chose whom she killed, but that didn't make any sense. That's when I delved deeper into the victims themselves and discovered their rap sheets and all had one thing in common: female and child abuse. This seems to attract her attention."

"Why's that?" He pointed out.

Judy shrugged. "I don't know. As I said, it's just a theory, but it is the one that makes the most sense."

He sat back in the chair, marveling at this new discovery. Things were starting to click into place for him in his head. "But what about those who had a clean record with nothing negative to their name? Why did she kill those victims?"

Tilting forward more, she tapped a finger to the table for emphasis, "For the same reason. I'm willing to bet that somehow it was discovered even those victims were guilty to those same sorts of crimes and she found out about it."

"It does seem a fitting punishment for such an abhorrent act." Ralph mused.

"True, but killing is still a crime." Judy reminded.

"Of course. Why the burning though?" He wondered.

She paused a bit, picking at her own sandwich, "No idea. Maybe it is her calling card. I've no idea on that point."

Just then, Ralph's phone blared out in his pocket, causing them both to jump. He excused himself briefly and checked his e-mail. His eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Raina has finished the processing. The evidence is ready for pickup and inspection!" His expression immediately wilted. "But Chief Bogo doesn't want to see me at the station again until tomorrow..."

"Nor me." Hopps added. She knew that helping Ralph could possibly land her in hot water same as him, however she figured she could weather it a lot better even if she took all the blame. Besides, she too was once invested in this case the same as Ralph and seeing as he had quite a good lead on it than she had in years, she was willing to chance it. "Tell you what, let's go together and if we get caught, let me do the talking."

"Are you serious?" His eye bulged.

"Of course. We're friends now, aren't we? Let's finish off these sandwiches and head on over to the station before Raina leaves so we can get what you were looking for!" She chippered, taking a huge bite of her sandwich.

With appetite coming back slowly, he finished his own before dumping the trash into the nearby receptacle and heading outside with Judy. The weather had taken a turn for the worse since he had left the bank, with dark clouds covering the sky and streaks of lightning dancing through the heavens.

Walking across Freedom Circle towards the spires of the ZPD, there was a complete lack of vehicles in the side parking lot. Instead of going in the front entrance, they took one of the various side ones and headed down a stairwell to the basement where Raina worked.

They had just opened the swinging doors into the evidence storage and laboratory room where they beheld a young, female sloth slowly putting on her raincoat, her purse already packed and seated on the tall stool beside her. Looking up, her face slowly broke out into a grin, "Good...evening...Officer...Grayz...and...Officer...Hopps. How...are...you...tonight?"

She had barely finished her question when Hopps interjected, "Hey, Raina! We are in a real hurry tonight. Can you tell us where Officer Grayz's request package is?"

After finishing her previous statement, it took Raina several moments to process and respond to Judy's question, causing the rabbit to thump a foot. To this day, Judy had struggles in dealing with sloths. "It...is...in...those...plastic...baggies...over...there." She began to extend her long arm towards a bench beyond her main table she sat at.

Without a moment's hesitation, Judy bounded over there and picked up several packages and handed them in turn to Ralph. "Do any of these look familiar?"

The first package held the shattered remnants of the stink bomb that took out both him and Judy Monday night. Setting it aside quickly with a shiver, he looked at the next baggy. He set all the rest down as he stared at the contents of this one. Inside the translucent plastic was a single earring with specks of blood and some loose follicles of hair alongside it. That wasn't the striking thing about it though. What caught his attention was its shape.

"This is the design!" Ralph snapped his hoof fingers.

Judy looked up from her bags of evidence, "What now?"

"This." He held up the green, pine tree earring. "As I said, Stinkman had a pair of earrings fashioned for his mother that was exactly like his necklace. His necklace was an air freshener with this exact tree design! I swear it!"

"Are you sure?" She grabbed the proffered earring bag and studied it.

"Positive." He nodded resolutely. "This is it. The final piece of the puzzle. The Dark Flame Wolf burned the musk mill, saved the children, adopted this skunk, gave him that necklace, he gave her these earrings, I saw her with them this past Monday night and she lost one when we almost captured her. Stinkman's mother is Mrs. Wolford who is CEO of Lemming Bros. Bank, wife to Anthony Wolford, ZPD officer, and the Dark Flame Wolf."

The words hang still in the silence between them. Judy was simply staring at him with her head half-cocked. "Do you realize how insane that sounds?"

"I do." Ralph admitted, breathing a bit heavier now.

Judy began to pace back and forth, both completely oblivious to the sloth leaving their presence to head home. "This is bad. Mrs. Wolford is a very influential member of Zootopia, having funded and invested in a lot of the city's major organizations and global funds. Not to mention this would devastate Officer Wolford."

"And if we are right and we confront Mrs. Wolford, she is a highly trained and skilled opponent. We would need to call for backup before we moved in on her." Ralph reminded.

"If Bogo believes all of this and agrees to the raid." Judy was alit with purpose now, her own desire to solve this case rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

"You think you can convince him of this?" Ralph was unsure.

"Possibly. It all depends on how we present this to him. Do we know where Mrs. Wolford is now?" She asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "I haven't the foggiest. She seems to have given everyone the slip. Not even her secretary knows where she is. She's not been seen all day by anyone I've talked to. The last possible contact made was probably at Mercy Hospital where she most likely finished the job with Javier Sanchez. Aside from that, it's as if she disappeared."

A huge, resounding boom rocked the foundations of the station, causing the lights to flicker and things to clatter to the tiled floor. "Sweet cheese and crackers! What was that?" Judy crouched, looking up in alarm.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound good! Let's head outside!" Ralph motioned as he dashed out into the hallway.

They had just busted through the side door, swinging it hard and slamming it against the building with a bang. Their eyes immediately flew upwards at the light show above them. A storm had broken out, getting them both soaked, but what was most alarming was the intensity of the thunderstorm. Flashes of brilliant white streaked across the sky, encircling a singular point of space above Tundratown.

"What in the world?" Ralph gaped.

"Do you see what I see?" Judy blinked, trying to believe her eyes.

"I'm not sure." Ralph truly didn't know what to think of it.

Just overhead, above the border wall between Downtown and Tundatown, was a strange ship staying aloft via propellers. The two zeppelin like balloon buoys on each side ended in twin points that was generating a lot of the electrical energy. The lightning crackled and sparked, shooting the dangerous energy across the sky in erratic patterns. The entire ship was lurching to the side as if something was wrong with it.

"Is that...an airship?" Judy was astonished. It seemed so ancient, yet so technologically advanced. Its very existence seemed to be a contradiction.

"It's going down!" Ralph pointed at it.

The ship slanted hard to the left and began to nosedive sharply. The propellers whined ferociously as one burst into flames. There was a loud wail as the engines seemed to rev and could be heard for miles around. The lightning began spraying out in multiple directions, blasting through multiple buildings and setting many on fire. Sirens across the city cried out in unison as many emergency calls were made due to the collateral damage.

It then began to level out from its downward descent and lurched even harder towards Sahara Square. It barely clipped the barrier wall, taking out an entire section of the upper ramparts, shutting down a single heat coil keeping the district hot. Judy cringed as she heard more explosions from the falling debris off the wall. Some of the pieces must have crushed or destroyed multiple vehicles or infrastructure mechanisms. One section of the city suddenly lost all lights. This was a disaster.

"We have to get over there right now!" Judy yelled.

She and Ralph made a mad dash for the nearest cruiser, their eyes on the airship that descended out of view beyond the wall of Sahara Square. A dull roar and plume of sand rose up from beyond the barrier as they hopped into the vehicle. Taking a set of keys from her pocket, Judy started the ignition while Ralph fumbled with his seatbelt. Using the pedals built into the seat meant for smaller cops, she peeled out of the parking space and was speeding down the road.

They barreled out of the tunnel leading through the wall, sirens blaring. The wide open vista of the desert greeted them. With the darkness of night, it was very easy to see where the ship had crash landed. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near any roads or thoroughfares. In fact, it had smashed in the direct center of the biggest patch of sand in the entire district, completely remote from any actual roads they could easily take to reach the crash site.

"Grumpy, carrot farmers!" Judy swore, causing Ralph to gasp at the nature of it. "The closest we can park and walk to that thing is still a good two miles distance! We'll need to request backup at this point."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Ralph indicated the fellow sirens coming from multiple other directions, all converging on Sahara Square.

Judy got out of the car, having parked on the side of the road, looking out past the dunes at the dull glow of fire and smoke rising from the airship. "What could have possibly caused this? Where did it even come from?"

"I have no idea..." Ralph gawked, scratching his chin.

A sense of dread settled upon them both as they looked on with trepidation at the unknown in their midst. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, Ralph suspected that, however unlikely, the Dark Flame Wolf was behind this too.